Dow And S&P 500 Close Firmly Negative, Nasdaq Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply lower at the start of trading on Tuesday and maintained a negative bias throughout much of the trading session. The drop on the day extended the pullback seen in the previous session.

Reflecting concerns about the outlook for global demand, steel stocks saw substantial weakness on the day. The NYSE Arca Steel Index plunged by 3.4 percent to its lowest closing level in seven years.

Mechel (MTL) and Rio Tinto (RIO) turned in two of the steel sector's worst performances, tumbling by 9.8 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 3.2 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index. Qualcomm (QCOM) led the sector lower after the European Union launched an anti-trust action against the company.

Transportation stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, resulting in a 2.8 percent drop by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. With the loss, the index fell to a three-month closing low.

Chemical, banking, housing, and gold stocks also moved notably lower, while biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside.

While the Dow and the S&P 500 closed firmly in negative territory, the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged down just 3.57 points or 0.1 percent to 5,098.24. The Dow fell 162.51 points or 0.9 percent to 17,568.00, and the S&P 500 slid 13.48 points or 0.7 percent to 2,063.59.